FanHouse Juan Diaz

Mark Taffet, Senior Vice President of HBO Sports Pay Per View, said Floyd Mayweather "clearly has proven his star status by generating the kinds of pay per view numbers that very few men in the history of the sport have ever generated."

FanHouse spoke to Taffet, the man in charge of HBO's Pay Per View, as he addressed Mayweather, the Nov. 14 megafight between Manny Pacquiao and Miguel Cotto, the cable giant's "hunger to go younger" initiative geared toward drawing America's youth to the sport of boxing, and how the organization determines which fights are deserving of pay television status during this exclusive interview.

When Floyd Mayweather Jr. fought Arturo Gatti in Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall in June 2005, he was greeted by a hostile crowd partisan to the New Jersey native.

The acrimonious reception brought out the best in Mayweather, who stopped Gatti in six rounds after dropping him early during a generally dominant performance for the World Boxing Council light welterweight title.

The undefeated six-time champion expects a similar atmosphere Saturday night at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, where Mayweather (39-0, 25 knockouts) takes on Mexico City's Juan Manuel Marquez (50-4-1, 37 KOs) at a catchweight of 144 pounds.

Paulie Malignaggi heavily criticized the judges following his controversial unanimous decision loss to Juan Diaz last month. From his post-fight interview with HBO's Max Kellerman to the post-fight press conference, Malignaggi wasn't afraid of voicing his displeasure with the politics that have plagued boxing for years.

When FanHouse recently spoke to Malignaggi, he was still fired up over the loss. The 28-year-old native of Brooklyn, N.Y., said he's been promised a rematch against Diaz and is hopeful it will happen on the East Coast. The full video interview is below.

Juan Manuel Marquez has said that he is willing to walk through fire, to die in the ring in order to take down undefeated six-time champion, Floyd Mayweather Jr., on Saturday night.

"But that fire," said noted boxing scribe, Michael Katz, "might be doused by Marquez's own blood."

International Boxing Federation light flyweight (108 pounds) titlist Ricardo Lopez sat on his stool before the eighth round of the last fight of his illustrious professional career.

Seemingly in trouble despite having dominated his opponent, Lopez's cut man dabbed a vaseline-like substance into a deep gash near the furthest, outside corner of the Mexican's left eye -- even as a thick river of blood spilled from another chasm over the right eye on his forehead.

"You're the champion of the world," the cornerman told the aging champion. "You're the best."

With that, the 35-year-old veteran went out and executed as he had so many times before.

Oscar De La Hoya and Floyd Mayweather Sr. both agree with Floyd Jr. that his return to the sport should be as boxing's best fighter, pound-for-pound.

"Nobody beat him. He's still undefeated. He's still Floyd Mayweather Jr. It's like your read a book and you're in the 10th chapter, and you close the book to take a nap," said De La Hoya. "You open the book, once again, when you wake up and you pick up where you left off. It's a continuation."

Paulie Malignaggi had reason to be angry after losing to Juan Diaz in their 12-round clash for the NABO junior welterweight championship Saturday night.

It was his first major bout in nearly a year, his last defeat coming at the hands of Ricky Hatton in embarrassing fashion last November. Malignaggi had something to prove to the Houston crowd and observers watching on HBO's Boxing After Dark -- that he could still box with the best of them.

He proved just that, controlling a large portion of the fight with sharp jabs and quick combinations. Only the judges didn't see it that way at all.

In a brilliant showing at the Toyota Center in Houston, Juan Manuel Marquez knocked out Juan Diaz to win the world lightweight boxing title on Saturday night.

Diaz gave a game performance in a dead-even fight through the first eight rounds, but Marquez overwhelmed him and knocked him out in the ninth.

And he may have done something more than that: Marquez may have shown that he's the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world.

If there is a lesson to learn from the life of Juan Diaz, the former unified lightweight champion of the world, current college senior and boxer with a motor so powerful NASCAR would stick a restrictor plate on it, it is simply this.

Don't mess with the fat kid.

In an amount of time smaller than any second could be split, and faster than even he can bob, weave and hurl a counterpunch, Juan Manuel Marquez leaps to an answer with enough enthusiasm you'd be forgiven for thinking someone had just asked a kid to the prom.